1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to means for opening cans and container, which have a pull tab that the user lifts and/or pulls to open the can.
Specifically, the invention relates to cans used to contain soft drinks, or beer or soups or sardines or drinks and foods in general or the like. The pull-tab is usually lifted by the user to break a seal of some sort or shape. The pull-tabs presently used on the market are difficult to grab and lift and some users revert to special tools to start the lifting process.
The present invention relates to means and methods of making the tab lifting process more user friendly, and to do so without special tools.
2. Background Information
Many of the soda cans, beer cans, soup cans, or similar containers or the like, presently on the market, have a pull tab, which is supposed to help the user/consumer to open the can and partake of its contents. Usually the pull-tab is relatively flush with the surface of the lid. See the “Tutorial & Definitions” Section for more detailed explanations of some terms used here.
Since I am not directly working with and using these terms on a daily basis, I have copied many of these terms and phrases from a couple of existing patents that have been issued to companies that are in this line of business. I particularly like the words used in U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,029 to Anthony et al., assigned to Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. (USA) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,889 to Neiner, assigned to Metal Container Corporation, St. Louis, Mo. (USA). I have included some of their writings and teachings in the “Tutorial & Definitions” Section, elsewhere in this specification. Additional references used include the following, other than those listed in the “Prior Art” section below.    1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,993, to Hasegawa, entitled “EASY-OPENING CONTAINER WITH NON-DETACH TAB”,    2. U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,029 B2, to Anthony et al, entitled “EASY-OPEN MISTING CONTAINER”,    3. U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,889 B1, to Neiner, entitled “STAY-ON-TAB CONTAINER CLOSURE HAVING TEAR PANEL WITH LOW-RELIEF CONTOUR FEATURES ON THE UPPER SURFACE”,
It is usually hard to get at the pull-tab and to lift it from its resting position. If you try to lift it with your fingernails, you may break the fingernail, because you need a large force to lift the tab. If you try to push your fingertip under the tab tip, in order to use the tip of the finger instead the fingernail, there usually is not enough room to get your fingertip under the tab tip, and you would not be able to get a good “grip” on the ring.
Some users revert to using special tools to lift the tab at least a little bit, so that the user can get his/her fingertip under the tab tip, to be able to grab the tab lifter and lift it and open the seal. Such tools vary across the board. They can be a knife, a fork, a spoon, a screwdriver or the like. There is even now on the market a special tool, designed and being marketed specifically for this purpose, which basically is a short metal piece, which has a thin edge that can fit in the tight space between the top surface of the lid and the bottom surface of the tab tip. The tip of the tool is inserted in that space and is forced in and/or twisted, so as to lift the tab tip enough to insert the user finger there and then to fully lift the tab lifter.